Long Road to Freedom for Stephen Downing (January 01, 2005)
In 1973 Stephen Downing's world was turned upside down when he was arrested for the murder of a woman near his home in Bakewell, in Derbyshire.
Wendy Sewell: Victim of a brutal attack | Wendy Sewell, a 32-year-old typist, was the victim of a savage attack. She was beaten with a pickaxe handle in a cemetery, and died later in hospital without revealing the identity of her attacker.
Mr Downing, then 17, worked there as a groundsman. He told police that when he returned to the cemetery after lunch, he had found the woman lying on the ground, covered in blood.
Detectives did not believe him, and continued to question him for nine hours.
Eventually, the teenager signed a confession. Mr Downing's father, Ray, said his son's reaction was: "If I sign this piece of paper they'll let me go home."
However, Stephen Downing served 27 years in prison for amurder he didn't commit.
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